The StatinTB consortium held its Year 3 Progress Meeting virtually on November 11, 2021.

Despite significant challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the StatinTB clinical study has advanced tremendously over the last year. In the meeting, Dr Friedrich Thienemann from the University of Zurich presented recent achievements related to the recruitment of study participants and clinical trial implementation. Another central topic during the meeting was recent results from the sample immunoassays and lab analysis, led by Dr Reto Guler. In this context, Dr Guler presented a publication on new host-directed therapies targeting inflammatory tuberculosis granulomas which was recently published in Frontiers in Immunology (2021, 12: 733853).

The meeting also included a session focused on capacity building, which is an important pillar of the StatinTB project. Dr Gunar Günther and Dr Emmanuel Nepolo from the University of Namibia (UNAM) discussed past and future activities to broaden UNAM Medical School’s clinical trial capacities.

Diligent work and a flexible mindset over the last year has put the consortium in a good position to further advance the project in the coming months.